Analysis of SSRs derived from an EST library of half-smooth tongue sole <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynoglossus semilaevis</Emphasis>

A complementary DNA (cDNA) library was constructed from half-smooth tongue sole spleen. A long-read expressed sequence tag (EST) database was generated, containing 3100 cDNA clones, of which 220 clones were fully sequenced. A total of 1060 non-redundant simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were obtained from the cDNA library. An average of 5 kb sequence generates 1 SSR in the half-smooth tongue sole spleen cDNA library. The proportion of the SSR unit size was different in the cDNA library. The monomeric repeats (51.4%) are the most abundant class of SSR in the dataset. The dimeric, trimeric, tetrameric and hexameric repeats are represented in decreasing proportions of 27.2%, 16.0%, 2.8% and 1.9%, respectively. The frequency of pentameric repeats was observed the least (only 0.7%). Most of the monomeric and dimeric repeats are distributed in 3′ and 5′ un-translation region. If translation regions are considered merely, trimeric repeats are the highest, accounting for 57% of the total microsatellites.     

Location of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Vibrio anguillarum</Emphasis> resistance-associated trait loci in half-smooth tongue sole <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynoglossus semilaevis</Emphasis> at its microsatellite linkage map

A cultured female half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) was crossed with a wild male, yielding the first filial generation of pseudo-testcrossing from which 200 fish were randomly selected to locate the Vibrio anguillarum resistance trait in half-smooth tongue sole at its microsatellite linkage map. In total, 129 microsatellites were arrayed into 18 linkage groups, ≥4 each. The map reconstructed was 852.85 cM in length with an average spacing of 7.68 cM, covering 72.07% of that expected (1 183.35 cM). The V. anguillarum resistance trait was a composite rather than a unit trait, which was tentatively partitioned into Survival time in Hours After V. anguillarum Infection (SHAVI) and Immunity of V. Anguillarum Infection (IVAI). Above a logarithm of the odds (LOD) threshold of 2.5, 18 loci relative to SHAVI and 3 relative to IVAI were identified. The 3 loci relative to IVAI explained 18.78%, 5.87% and 6.50% of the total phenotypic variation in immunity. The microsatellites bounding the 3 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of IVAI may in future aid to the selection of V. anguillarum-immune half-smooth tongue sole varieties, and facilitate cloning the gene(s) controlling such immunity.     

Identification of two major histocompatibility (MH) class II A genes and their association to Vibrio anguillarum infection in half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis)

Major histocompatibility complex class II antigens are important in vertebrate immune system.In the present study,the full cDNA sequence of class II A gene was synthesized by RACE-PCR from half-smooth tongue sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis),and its open reading frame(ORF) polymorphism was studied.The whole cDNA sequence was 992 bp in length,including the ORF with 717 bp.Twenty-five alleles were identified and clustered into two distinct groups according to the specific nucleotides/amino acids in specific positions.Eleven alleles belonged to Cyse-DAA while fourteen alleles belonged to Cyse-DBA.Four Cyse-DAA alleles were observed in one individual,and three to five Cyse-DBA alleles were observed in each of the three detected individuals,which indicated that at least two loci existed in each gene.Moreover,in order to study the function of the alleles in resistance to infection,200 individuals were intraperitoneally injected with Vibrio anguillarum and the first 20 dead individuals and 20 surviving ones were selected for genotype analysis.Fifty-six alleles were identified among the 40 individuals.Twenty-nine alleles belonged to Cyse-DAA and the other 27 alleles belonged to Cyse-DBA.Eighteen alleles were selected for studying their function in resistance to infection.Alleles Cyse-DAA*0201,Cyse-DAA*1101,Cyse-DBA*0401,Cyse-DBA*1102,Cyse-DBA*1801 and Cyse-DBA*2201 were identi-fied only in surviving individuals,while alleles Cyse-DAA*0901,Cyse-DBA*1101 and Cyse-DBA*1401 occurred more frequently in dead individuals.This study confirmed the existence and polymorphism of two class II A genes as well as the relationship between alleles of class II A genes and disease susceptibility/resistance in half-smooth tongue sole.     

QTL Detection for Albinism-Related Loci in Chinese Tongue Sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis)

The Chinese tongue sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis) is widely cultured in the coastal region of East Asia and has excellent economic value. However, the high albino rate of the breeding population has caused a significant loss to the aquaculture industry. To study the molecular mechanism of albinism, the present study used an albino Chinese tongue sole family to construct three simple sequence repeat(SSR) linkage groups, and draft a preliminary linkage map related to albinism. After albinism-related loci mapping, 18 albinism-related loci were detected under two models(containing 2407 genes) compared to the Chinese tongue sole genome. One of these loci, the tyrosinase related protein(tyrp2), which has been reported previously as an important gene regulating both eumelanin and phaeomelanin levels, was indicated to be the possible cause of albinism. Thirty-five Gene Ontology(GO) terms and 14 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways were annotated via bioinformatic analyses. One GO term with protein tyrosine kinase activity, which contained 10 genes, was previously suggested to affect fish albinism. These results establish a foundation for further in-depth study of albinism in Chinese tongue sole.     

Isolation and Characterization of Pathogenic Listonella anguillarum of Diseased Half-Smooth Tongue Sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis Günther)

Studies were conducted to determine the cause of the acute mortality of half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis Günther juveniles in a fish farm in Jimo, Shandong Province, China, in June 2006. Gross signs of the diseased tongue sole included several petechiae and ecchymoses on the body and fin necrosis and hemorrhagic lesion at the base of the fin. Bacteria were isolated from kidney, liver and hemorrhagic lesions of the diseased tongue sole. Among14 strains, SJ060621 was proved to be highly virulent to juvenile tongue sole with LD50 value of 1.0×105 colony forming units (CFU)mL-1, while the remaining 13 were avirulent. Among the 16 antibiotics tested, SJ060621 was sensitive to gentamicin and nitrofurantoin. It was identified as Listonella anguillarum with conventional plate and tube tests in combination with API 20E analysis. 16S rRNA gene and partial HSP60 gene sequenceing analysis revealed that the strain was highly homologous with L. anguillarum. Examination of the infected musculature by electron microscopy indicated numerous bacteria and lots of macrophages containing phagocytosed bacteria. Histopathological investigations revealed severe necrotic degenerative changes in the infected organs. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) was employed to detect the location of occurrence of bacteria, and bacteria were found in aggregations in the inflammatory areas in musculature.     

Isolation and characterization of pathogenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Listonella anguillarum</Emphasis> of diseased half-smooth tongue sole (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynoglossus semilaevis</Emphasis> Günther)

Studies were conducted to determine the cause of the acute mortality of half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis Günther juveniles in a fish farm in Jimo, Shandong Province, China, in June 2006. Gross signs of the diseased tongue sole included several petechiae and ecchymoses on the body and fin necrosis and hemorrhagic lesion at the base of the fin. Bacteria were isolated from kidney, liver and hemorrhagic lesions of the diseased tongue sole. Among14 strains, SJ060621 was proved to be highly virulent to juvenile tongue sole with LD₅₀ value of <1.0×10⁵ colony forming units (CFU) mL⁻¹, while the remaining 13 were avirulent. Among the 16 antibiotics tested, SJ060621 was sensitive to gentamicin and nitrofurantoin. It was identified as Listonella anguillarum with conventional plate and tube tests in combination with API 20E analysis. 16S rRNA gene and partial HSP60 gene sequenceing analysis revealed that the strain was highly homologous with L. anguillarum. Examination of the infected musculature by electron microscopy indicated numerous bacteria and lots of macrophages containing phagocytosed bacteria. Histopathological investigations revealed severe necrotic degenerative changes in the infected organs. Indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) was employed to detect the location of occurrence of bacteria, and bacteria were found in aggregations in the inflammatory areas in musculature.     

BAC end sequencing of Pacific white shrimp <Emphasis Type="Italic">Litopenaeus vannamei</Emphasis>: a glimpse into the genome of Penaeid shrimp

Little is known about the genome of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). To address this, we conducted BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) end sequencing of L. vannamei. We selected and sequenced 7 812 BAC clones from the BAC library LvHE from the two ends of the inserts by Sanger sequencing. After trimming and quality filtering, 11 279 BAC end sequences (BESs) including 4 609 paired- ends BESs were obtained. The total length of the BESs was 4 340 753 bp, representing 0.18% of the L. vannamei haploid genome. The lengths of the BESs ranged from 100 bp to 660 bp with an average length of 385 bp. Analysis of the BESs indicated that the L. vannamei genome is AT-rich and that the primary repeats patterns were simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and low complexity sequences. Dinucleotide and hexanucleotide repeats were the most common SSR types in the BESs. The most abundant transposable element was gypsy, which may contribute to the generation of the large genome size of L. vannamei. We successfully annotated 4 519 BESs by BLAST searching, including genes involved in immunity and sex determination. Our results provide an important resource for functional gene studies, map construction and integration, and complete genome assembly for this species.     

QTL Detection for Albinism-Related Loci in Chinese Tongue Sole (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cynoglossus semilaevis</Emphasis>)

The Chinese tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) is widely cultured in the coastal region of East Asia and has excellent economic value. However, the high albino rate of the breeding population has caused a significant loss to the aquaculture industry. To study the molecular mechanism of albinism, the present study used an albino Chinese tongue sole family to construct three simple sequence repeat (SSR) linkage groups, and draft a preliminary linkage map related to albinism. After albinism-related loci mapping, 18 albinism-related loci were detected under two models (containing 2407 genes) compared to the Chinese tongue sole genome. One of these loci, the tyrosinase related protein (tyrp2), which has been reported previously as an important gene regulating both eumelanin and phaeomelanin levels, was indicated to be the possible cause of albinism. Thirty-five Gene Ontology (GO) terms and 14 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways were annotated via bioinformatic analyses. One GO term with protein tyrosine kinase activity, which contained 10 genes, was previously suggested to affect fish albinism. These results establish a foundation for further in-depth study of albinism in Chinese tongue sole.     

Molecular Characterization and Expression and DNA Methylation Analyses of a Galectin-Related Protein Gene from Cynoglossus semilaevis

Galectins,a family of ?-galactoside-binding proteins,participate in both innate immunity and adaptive immunity.This study identified one novel galectin-related protein from half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis,which was designated as Cs GRP.The full-length c DNA of its encoding gene was 785 bp in length with a 528 bp open reading frame encoding a putative protein of 176 amino acids.The deduced Cs GRP contained a putative 131-aa galactoside-binding lectin domain and 3 critical residues responsible for carbohydrate binding(R~(93),W~(109) and R~(114)).Genomic structural analysis revealed that Cs GRP consisted of five exons and four introns.Cs GRP showed 68% similarity with Poecilia latipinna GRP and 67% similarity with Stegastes partitus GRP.Cs GRP showed the highest expression level in liver,although its expression was detected in all tested tissues.When challenged with Vibrio harveyi,the expression of Cs GRP was significantly down-regulated in liver(P 0.05).In addition,we found that in spleen and kidney of C.semilaevis,the Cp G island of Cs GRP showed significantly higher(P 0.05) methylation level in disease-resistant family of C.semilaevis(DR-Cs) than in disease-susceptible ones(DS-Cs).Our results suggested that Cs GRP may play important roles in the immune response of C.semilaevis.Moreover,DNA methylation patterns provided valuable data for understanding the relationship between epigenetic regulation and immunity,which would assist the animal genetic research and improve the animal breeding in the future.     

Genome-wide mining,characterization, and development of microsatellite markers in Marsupenaeus japonicus by genome survey sequencing

The kuruma prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus, is one of the most cultivated and consumed species of shrimp. However, very few molecular genetic/genomic resources are publically available for it. Thus, the characterization and distribution of simple sequence repeats(SSRs) remains ambiguous and the use of SSR markers in genomic studies and marker-assisted selection is limited. The goal of this study is to characterize and develop genome-wide SSR markers in M. japonicus by genome survey sequencing for application in comparative genomics and breeding. A total of 326 945 perfect SSRs were identified, among which dinucleotide repeats were the most frequent class(44.08%), followed by mononucleotides(29.67%), trinucleotides(18.96%), tetranucleotides(5.66%), hexanucleotides(1.07%), and pentanucleotides(0.56%). In total, 151 541 SSR loci primers were successfully designed. A subset of 30 SSR primer pairs were synthesized and tested in 42 individuals from a wild population, of which 27 loci(90.0%) were successfully amplified with specific products and 24(80.0%) were polymorphic. For the amplified polymorphic loci, the alleles ranged from 5 to 17(with an average of 9.63), and the average PIC value was 0.796. A total of 58 256 SSR-containing sequences had significant Gene Ontology annotation; these are good functional molecular marker candidates for association studies and comparative genomic analysis. The newly identified SSRs significantly contribute to the M. japonicus genomic resources and will facilitate a number of genetic and genomic studies, including high density linkage mapping, genome-wide association analysis, marker-aided selection, comparative genomics analysis, population genetics, and evolution.     

Existence of Microsatellites in Expressed Sequence Tags of Common Carp （Cyprinus carpio L. ） Available in GenBank dbEST Database

Common carp expressed sequence tags （ESTs） were analyzed for the existence of microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats （SSRs）. In the NCBI dbEST database, a total of 10612 sequences were registered before December 31, 2004. A complete search of 2-6 nucleotide microsatellites resulted in the identification of 513 SSR-containing ESTs, accounting for 4.8% of the total. Cluster analysis indicated that 73 sequences of SSR-containing ESTs fell into 27 groups and the remaining 440 ESTs were independent. A total of 467 unique SSR-containing ESTs were identified. These EST-SSRs contained a vari- ety of simple sequence types, and di- and tri-nucleotide repeats were the most abundant, accounting for 42.1% and 27.9% of the whole, respectively. Of the dinucleotide repeats, CA/TG was the most abundant, followed by GA/TC. BLASTx search showed that 38.1% of the SSR loci could be associated with genes or proteins of known or unknown function. BLASTx searches of SSR-containing ESTs also showed high frequencies （98/179） of hits on zebrafish sequences.     

Construction of a Muscle cDNA Library of Chinese Shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis and Sequence Analysis of the Troponin Ⅰ Gene

A muscle cDNA library of Chinese shrimp (Fenneropenaeus chinensis) was constructed with the SMARTTM cDNA Li- brary Construction Kit. The titer of optimal primary library was 7.7×105 pfu mL-1 and that of the amplified library was 3.0×109 pfu mL-1. The percentages of the recombinant clones of primary and amplified libraries were over 98%. The insert sizes were longer than 400 bp with an average of 1000 bp. A positive clone containing a 794 bp insert was sequenced and identified encoding fast skeletal troponin Ⅰ gene. This library provided a useful resource for the functional genomic research ofE chinensis.     

Sequences characterization of microsatellite DNA sequences in Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai)

The microsatellite-enriched library was constructed using magnetic bead hybridization selection method, and the microsatellite DNA sequences were analyzed in Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai. Three hundred and fifty white colonies were screened using PCR-based technique, and 84 clones were identified to potentially contain microsatellite repeat motif. The 84 clones were sequenced, and 42 microsatellites and 4 minisatellites with a minimum of five repeats were found (13.1% of white colonies screened). Besides the motif of CA contained in the oligoprobe, we also found other 16 types of microsatellite repeats including a dinucleotide repeat, two tetranucleotide repeats, twelve pentanucleotide repeats and a hexanucleotide repeat. According to Weber(1990), the microsatellite sequences obtained could be categorized structurally into perfect repeats (73.3%), imperfect repeats(13.3%), and compound repeats (13.4%). Among the microsatellite repeats, relatively short arrays (＜ 20 repeats) were most abundant,accounting for 75.0%. The largest length of microsatellites was 48 repeats, and the average number of repeats was 13.4. The data on the composition and length distribution of microsatellites obtained in the present study can be useful for choosing the repeat motifs for microsatetlite isolation in other abalone species.     

Sequences Characterization of Microsatellite DNA Sequences in Pacific Abalone (Haliotis discus hannat)

The microsatellite-enriched library was constructed using magnetic bead hybridization selection method, and the microsatellite DNA sequences were analyzed in Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai. Three hundred and fifty white colonies were screened using PCR-based technique, and 84 clones were identified to potentially contain microsatellite repeat motif. The 84 clones were sequenced, and 42 microsatellites and 4 minisatellites with a minimum of five repeats were found (13.1% of white colonies screened). Besides the motif of CA contained in the oligoprobe, we also found other 16 types of microsatellite repeats including a dinucleotide repeat, two tetranucleotide repeats, twelve pentanucleotide repeats and a hexanucleotide repeat. According to Weber(1990), the microsatellite sequences obtained could be categorized structurally into perfect repeats (73.3%), imperfect repeats(13.3%), and compound repeats (13.4%). Among the microsatellite repeats, relatively short arrays (＜ 20 repeats) were most abundant,accounting for 75.0%. The largest length of microsatellites was 48 repeats, and the average number of repeats was 13.4. The data on the composition and length distribution of microsatellites obtained in the present study can be useful for choosing the repeat motifs for microsatetlite isolation in other abalone species.     

Sequences Characterization of Microsatellite DNA Sequences in Pacific Abalone(Haliotis discus hannai)

1 Introduction Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are tandemly repeated motifs of one to six bases found in all prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes analysed to date (Zane et al., 2002). Due to their hyper-variable and co-dominant nature, relatively high abundance and random distribution in the genome, microsatellites are among the most efficient class of molecular markers. Such repeats display high polymorphism because of variation in repeat length and can be rapidly analysed t…     

Genome-wide mining,characterization, and development of microsatellite markers in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Marsupenaeus japonicus</Emphasis> by genome survey sequencing

The kuruma prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus, is one of the most cultivated and consumed species of shrimp. However, very few molecular genetic/genomic resources are publically available for it. Thus, the characterization and distribution of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) remains ambiguous and the use of SSR markers in genomic studies and marker-assisted selection is limited. The goal of this study is to characterize and develop genome-wide SSR markers in M. japonicus by genome survey sequencing for application in comparative genomics and breeding. A total of 326 945 perfect SSRs were identified, among which dinucleotide repeats were the most frequent class (44.08%), followed by mononucleotides (29.67%), trinucleotides (18.96%), tetranucleotides (5.66%), hexanucleotides (1.07%), and pentanucleotides (0.56%). In total, 151 541 SSR loci primers were successfully designed. A subset of 30 SSR primer pairs were synthesized and tested in 42 individuals from a wild population, of which 27 loci (90.0%) were successfully amplified with specific products and 24 (80.0%) were polymorphic. For the amplified polymorphic loci, the alleles ranged from 5 to 17 (with an average of 9.63), and the average PIC value was 0.796. A total of 58 256 SSR-containing sequences had significant Gene Ontology annotation; these are good functional molecular marker candidates for association studies and comparative genomic analysis. The newly identified SSRs significantly contribute to the M. japonicus genomic resources and will facilitate a number of genetic and genomic studies, including high density linkage mapping, genome-wide association analysis, marker-aided selection, comparative genomics analysis, population genetics, and evolution.     

Application of AFLP markers for population genetic study on half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis

The genetic diversity of wild and hatchery populations of half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis, based on observation of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was described. Two hundred individuals from four wild populations, Laizhou (LZ), Weihai (WH), Qingdao (QD), Rizhao (RZ), and one hatchery population, Mingbo (MB), were screened using eight different AFLP primer combinations. A total of 384 loci were screened in the five studied populations. 48.4%, 51.3%, 50.7%, 49.3% and 45.8% of these loci were polymorphic among the individuals tested in the LZ, WH, QD, RZ and MB populations, respectively. The number of polymorphic loci detected by single primer combinations ranged from 17 to 35. The average heterozygosity of the LZ, WH, QD, RZ and MB populations was 0.072, 0.093, 0.092, 0.090 and 0.063, respectively. The WH population showed the highest genetic diversity in terms of total number of AFLP bands, total number of polymorphic bands, average heterozygosity and percentage of low frequency (0-0.2) polymorphic loci among all the populations, while the LZ population was the lowest among the wild populations. Compared with the wild populations, the hatchery population showed a low genetic viability.     

Genome-wide identification and prediction of long non-coding RNAs in half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - At present, the function and profile of long noncoding RNAs (IncRNAs) in half-smooth tongue soles Cynoglossus semilaevis remain poorly understood. Lherefore,...